Labor productivity growth surged in the U.S. during the pandemic but then slowed as the economy recovered. In our recent Economic Letter, “Productivity During and Since the Pandemic,” we find that this surge and decline in productivity growth follows a recurring pattern in which U.S. productivity rises temporarily during recessions but eventually returns to its longer-run trend. These patterns suggest that productivity growth has a systematic relationship with the business cycle.
Watch our Economic Letter video with Huiyu Li, research advisor, to learn more about productivity growth and its cyclical patterns.
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